Shore Leave
This episode is just plain silly. The crew is tired, so McCoy and some other officers are exploring an idyllic, uninhabited world to see if it’s a good place to take some Shore Leave (Memory Alpha; HD Video). But this world is neither idyllic not uninhabited. That much is clear as soon as McCoy sees a White Rabbit, followed along by Alice.
Yes, really.
Begin Spoilers
Other crewmen are attacked by a tiger. Kirk’s new yeoman gets her bodice ripped by Don Juan, and replaces it with a princess dress. Kirk meets an old bully and an old flame. And McCoy stands his ground when a knight in shining armor is barreling down on him with a lance (this, it turns out, is not McCoy’s best idea).
It’s best described with this choice bit of dialog:
Sulu: Captain, take cover! There’s a samurai after me!
Kirk: A what?
Sulu: A samu- [glances back; sees no Samurai] Captain, you’ve got to believe me.
Kirk: I do; I’ve met some interesting personalities myself.It takes our heroes startlingly long to figure out that this world is being manufactured in real time as a means of amusement for the crew, by means uncertain. And no sooner do they figure that out then said means comes by and explains it all.
End Spoilers
As a fun-filled romp, this episode is actually pretty good. But it’s another reminder that the original series is much “soft”er science fiction than what came later.
Grade
B+
